| HK Zemgale/LBTU | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Jelgava, Latvia |
| League | OHL |
| Founded | 2002[1] |
| Home arena | Jelgava Ice hall (capacity: 1,500[2]) |
| Colours | Blue, red, white |
| President | Armands Ozollapa |
| Head coach | Artis Ābols |
| Captain | Rustams Begovs[3] |
| Parent club(s) | Dinamo Riga (OHL)[4] |
| Website | hkzemgale |
| Franchise history | |
| 2002–2003 | ASK/Zemgale[1] |
| 2003–present | HK Zemgale |
| Championships | |
| Latvian Hockey Higher League | 2 (2021–22, 2022–23) |
HK Zemgale/LBTU is a Latvian professionalice hockey team that plays in theLatvian Hockey Higher League. The team is based inJelgava and play their home games at theJelgava Ice hall.
The team was founded in 2002, shortly after the opening of the Jelgava Ice hall, in cooperation with theMinistry of Defence.[1] The team was initially called ASK/Zemgale, and joined theLatvian Hockey Higher League, in addition the team also participated in Division 2 of theEastern European Hockey League during the2002–03 season. At the culmination of the season, financial issues meant that the team split in two, with the ASK franchise relocating toOgre, creatingASK/Ogre, whilst the Zemgale side of the partnership remained in the town, operating under the name HK Zemgale.[1] The team remained in the Latvian first tier for two further seasons before disbanding following the culmination of the2004–05 season.
Zemgale remained inactive until the2010–11 season, when they reformed and returned to the Latvian top tier,[1] where they have played since. Usually a mid-table team,[3] HK Zemgale's most successful season came in the2017-18 season where they made it to the play-off final, ultimately losing toHK Kurbads,[5] under Head CoachHaralds Vasiljevs.[6]
In 2013, the team established a partnership with theLatvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (Latvian:Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte (LLU)).[7][8] In addition, Zemgale also serve as thefarm team to theKHL'sDinamo Riga.[4] During the 2020/21 season,David Levin played a handful of games for the team whilst under contract with Dinamo.[9]
Updated February 11, 2021.[3]
| Goaltenders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 30 |  | Mariuss Bajaruns-Galejs | L | 2018 | Riga,Latvia |
| 1 | | Rihards Cimermanis | L | 2016 | Riga,Latvia |
| 45 | | Artjoms Ļeščenko | R | 2020 | - |
| Defencemen | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | ||
| 47 | | Renars Džerods Alksnis | L | 2018 | Aloja,Latvia | |
| 44 | | Harijs Brants | L | 2020 | Valmiera,Latvia | |
| 33 | | Aleksandrs Galkins(A) | R | 2020 | Daugavpils,Latvia | |
| 5 | | Daniels Goršānovs | L | 2018 | - | |
| 89 | | Iļja Grekovs | L | 2020 | Liepāja,Latvia | |
| 85 | | Kristaps Jākobsons | L | 2020 | Riga,Latvia | |
| 83 | | Roberts Kaļķis | L | 2020 | Riga,Latvia | |
| 55 | | Patriks Ozols | L | 2020 | - | |
| 77 | | Mārtiņš Porejs(A) | L | 2020 | Riga,Latvia | |
| 35 | | Haralds Rauls Slišāns | L | 2020 | - | |
| Forwards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Shoots | Position | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
| 22 | | Vladislavs Adeļsons | L | F | 2017 | - |
| 7 | | Rustams Begovs(C) | L | C | 2018 | Olaine,Latvia |
| 97 | | Ričards Bernhards | R | RW | 2017 | Riga,Latvia |
| 73 | | Ričards Briņecs | R | F | 2018 | Jelgava,Latvia |
| 0 | | Verners Fricbergs | R | F | 2020 | Riga,Latvia |
| 19 | | Artūrs Homjakovs | L | W | 2019 | - |
| 72 | | Roberts Jekimovs | R | LW/RW | 2020 | Riga,Latvia |
| 23 | | Ralfs Jevdokimovs | L | F | 2020 | - |
| 17 | | Aleksandrs Novikovs | L | W | 2018 | Liepāja,Latvia |
| 88 | | Roberts Petrovičs | L | F | 2020 | - |
| 14 | | Frenks Razgals | L | LW/RW | 2020 | Riga,Latvia |
| 13 | | Kristaps Roķis | L | F | 2020 | Valmiera,Latvia |
| 90 | | Kirils Tambijevs | L | C/RW | 2019 | Riga,Latvia |
| 71 | | Deivids Tempelmanis | R | F | 2020 | - |
| 16 | | Deniss Vilmans | R | W | 2020 | Liepāja,Latvia |
| 8 | | Aleksandrs Visockis | L | LW | 2019 | Liepāja,Latvia |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Season | League | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2015–16 | Latvian Hockey Higher League | 30 | 17 | 11 | — | 1 | 1 | 54 | 137 | 87 | 4th | Quarter-final loss |
| 2016–17 | Latvian Hockey Higher League | 30 | 18 | 7 | — | 2 | 3 | 61 | 137 | 85 | 3rd | Semi-final loss |
| 2017–18 | Optibet Hockey League | 30 | 12 | 13 | — | 4 | 1 | 45 | 87 | 94 | 4th | Final loss |
| 2018–19 | Optibet Hockey League | 35 | 20 | 11 | — | 2 | 2 | 66 | 138 | 89 | 2nd | Semi-final loss |
| 2019–20 | Optibet Hockey League | 35 | 15 | 14 | — | 2 | 4 | 38 | 138 | 105 | 5th | Playoffs cancelled |
These are the top five scorers in HK Zemgale/LLU history.[3]
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Guntis Pujāts | F | 91 | 100 | 98 | 198 |
| Raivis Kurnigins | D | 235 | 67 | 110 | 177 |
| Artjoms Ogorodņikovs | F | 156 | 53 | 87 | 140 |
| Artūrs Batraks | F | 179 | 47 | 84 | 131 |
| Olafs Aploks | F | 138 | 58 | 75 | 128 |
Penalty minutes:Krišs Kupčus, 211